YOUTH FOOTBALL: Young Harrowby miss out on county cup final

Published: 08:36, 12 March 2016

An open training day will be held for Sleaford Town Junior FC on Saturday, October 22

Lincolnshire Under-14 County Cup

Semi-final

Harrowby United 1

Immingham 2

Due to Harrowby’s pitch being unplayable, the game was moved to a neutral ground at Long Bennington, and in heavy sleet this mouth-watering clash between two of the top under-14 sides in the county was going to be a spectacle.

The visitors, Immingham, had travelled over 70 miles and started very strongly, but the Young Arrows matched them in every department.

Harrowby were not playing their usual fluent football, probably due to nerves and chances were few and far between. Joe Angeloni went close with a header from a telling corner and Dominic Foister thought he had made the breakthrough with a clinical finish, but it was ruled out for offside. The stalemate continued until the half time whistle.

The weather did not abate in the second half and the Arrows started brightly and became more relaxed. The pressure paid off when, from a pinpoint cross, top marksman Kye Hull headed home for a well deserved lead for the home side. And for a short period, Harrowby were constantly applying pressure on the Immingham back line.

But minutes later, a sucker punch was delivered by the visitors, when a lapse in concentration from the rearguard allowed an equaliser to the delight of the travelling fans.

Once again, Harrowby pressed up the field and were awarded a free kick 25 yards from goal. Up stepped Joe Down who watched in despair as his strike smashed against the crossbar.

Immingham then shocked everyone when, after several missed tackles, their forward was allowed to get his shot off from a tight angle and put the visitors in front.

The Young Arrows now had to pull out all the stops in the final few minutes to save the game and again, after constant pressure, a free kick was awarded on the corner of the 18-yard box. Down delivered the ball into the penalty area which the visitors failed to clear; it then fell to Henry Dilley who cracked it home. The celebrations were short lived when to the amazement of everybody the linesman’s flag was raised as the ball settled into the back of the net.

All this action proved too late for Harrowby and they gracefully accepted the defeat and congratulated their opponents on a fantastic match; a credit to youth football in the county.